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 Post subject: Hostfs alters file names even when simply copying them
PostPosted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:03 am 
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Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2002 7:08 pm
Posts: 69
Location: Cambridge
Whenever you copy a file from a hostfs mount that has an unrecognized extension the name of the file has ",fff" appended - yes, even when you are simply copying the file.
This typically won't matter if the file is in the RISC OS HardDisc4 directory, but if the files are in areas used by Windows or Windows applications the damage can be catastrophic.
For example, I have a temperature logger that writes log files with ".tlg" extensions. I copy the log files to back them up and then the logger stops working. I look at the log files from Windows and discover ",fff" has been appended to all the file names.
This can be overcome by specifying the extensions in the extensions.txt file but EVERY extension must be specified. Miss one and it could be disastrous.
A copy action should leave the source totally untouched.

Mike


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 Post subject: Re: Hostfs alters file names even when simply copying them
PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 3:12 pm 
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2002 12:16 pm
Posts: 958
I strongly suspect that the "other" mount has been set up without the "Show Dos Extensions" flag set.

If you are copying between 2 HostFS mounts, and the files need to be accessed by the Host OS, then both mounts should have the same "Show Dos Extensions" flag settings. By default (and please don't change it) HostFS::HardDisc4 has the "Show Dos Extensions" flag ticked.

The other posibility is that your HostFS extensions file has got damaged. with VRPC in a Window and using the Windows mouse pointer click on the "Tools" menu along the top, then click on "Options". Open the "HostFS Extensions" tab and ensure that the list is populated. If not drop me an e-mail and I will send you a replacement file along with the instructions for installing it.


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 Post subject: Re: Hostfs alters file names even when simply copying them
PostPosted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:22 am 
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Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2002 7:08 pm
Posts: 69
Location: Cambridge
I already have "Show Dos Extensions" set on all drives. The extensions file is OK and working. I've had to add numerous extensions to it to avoid HostFS messing up file names by adding ",xxx" suffices. To overcome the most recent problem I had to add ".idx" and ".tlg" to the fff set because the temperature sensor software creates these data files and I wanted to include these in a daily backup process which I do with DirSync (running under RISCOS).
My point really was that for reading files I don't believe it should be necessary for HostFS to alter the filename of the source files. Indeed I believe it should not be allowed to do so. On writing of course its sensible to add the ",xxx". If, as is the current situation, one has to specify all extensions that are ever likely to be encountered in the extensions file, then its only a matter of time before a new unknown extension is encountered and copying it will corrupt the original. Is the HostFS behaviour really necessary, or can it be altered to leave source files untouched? Maybe there should be an option to have HostFS simply leave untouched any files with unknown extensions (for both reading and writing).
This issue arises because its far easier to manipulate files in the general windows space using RISC OS than using Windows.


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